Friday, 31 March 2017

Bell 429 ZK-HUU msn 57246 ex N544RF seen in the Oceania Aviation Ltd compound at Ardmore this afternoon. This 2014 built machine was registered here on 11-1-17 to Bell 429 Operator Ltd;Cottesloe;WA;Australia. Today was the first time I've seen it.

Maybe no direct connection to the ZK civil register but interesting anyway.

Above is the Dash 8 H4-SOL (c/n 289).

This was originally N418AW from 1991 followed by N835EX from March 1996, then briefly to C-FNZM in June 2007 transferring to OE-HWG the same month. By September 2009 it was in Greece as SX-BIW until joining Solomon Airlines in November 2012.

The Dash 6 H4-NNP is c/n 491 and was initially YJ-RV1 from February 1990.

The next type of sport aircraft to be registered in New Zealand was the Foxcon Terrier 200, the first of which was registered here in December 2002. It was manufactured as a kit which was built by Foxcon Aviation and Research Pty Ltd of Mackay in Queensland. Construction is from vacuum moulded composite materials and the standard engine is a Subaru EA 81 conversion driving the propeller through a reduction box. The Terrier 200 is of high wing strut braced tri-gear configuration with 2 side by side seats and it can be built as a camper model which has fold down seats that allow for room to sleep in the fuselage. The company first produced the Terrier 100 model in the late 1990s, and a 4 seater Terrier 400 model has been under development but has not appeared yet.

The Terrier 200's length is 6.1 metres (20 feet), its wingspan is 8.7 metres (28 feet 7 inches). Empty weight is around 340 Kg (750 pounds) and MAUW is 544 Kg (1200 pounds) although this is increased to 600 Kg for an LSA. With the EA 81 engine cruise is around 200 km/hr (108 knots) depending on the engine, and the stall speed is around 70 km/hr (38 knots).

We have had seven Foxcon Terrier 200s registered in New Zealand, plus a modified example.

First up was ZK-PCF (c/n NZ2001) which was registered to Peter C Flood of Ruawai on 9/12/02. It is photo's above at te Kowhai on 12/3/05 and is still current with the same owner.

ZK-WMH (c/n 2002) was registered to William M Hunter of Hamilton on 17/3/03 and it is photo'd above at a flyin at Te Kowhai in December 2003. On 4/2/08 it was sold to Michael J Van Bennekom of Rotorua. It is currently listed for sale on Trade Me.

ZK-NRS (c/n 2003) was registered to Brent A Smith of Hikurangi on 14/8/03. It was sold to kevin Richards of Westport on25/10/07 and later had a forced landing at Landcorp Cape on 17/1/08. It was then sold to Robert S Power of Whakatane on 13/12/08, in whose ownership it is photo's above at the 2009 Black Sands flyin at Raglan, on 7/11/09.

ZK-MEG (c/n NZ2005) was registered to Graeme R Addison of Opotiki on 13/10/03 and it is also photo'd at the 2009 Black Sands flyin at Raglan, on 7/11/09. On 1/7/11 it was sold to Tomino Cacciamani of Havelock in the South Island.

Tomino Cacciamani re-registered the aircraft as ZK-UTC on 14/7/11. and it photo'd above as such at Omaka. It then went to the Zenair Microlight Syndicate of Motueka on 13/4/14 but it did not last long at Motueka as it suffered a forced landing when it lost engine power on approach to Motueka airfield on 2/6/14 and came down in an orchard with substantial damage. it is still registered so maybe it is being rebuilt?

ZK-SOD (c/n NZ2004) was registered to Anthony Kevin Matthews of Warkworth on 6/12/04. It is photo'd above at Te Kowhai on 12/3/05 where it can be seen that it is named " SOD off". On 10/2/10 it was sold South, to John R Plunkett of Winton and then it was sold North again, to Glen M Pyle of Hamilton, on 17/9/14.

ZK-JPY (c/n 031101) was registered to Recreational Aviation Ltd of Gisborne on 7/3/05 and has been based at Opotiki where it suffered a nosewheel collapse on 7/5/05. However it was repaired as in this recent photo from David Mclaurin. I understand that is also for sale.

ZK-EEN2 (c/n 010501) was registered to Ian C and G Belfield of Whangamata on 5/3/10. It is based at Thames where the above photo was taken. Thanks to Ian Belfield for the photo.

Our last "Terrier" in this list was modified when it was built by Paul Hopper by incorporating carbon fibre for extra strength. However this put it out of the Class 2 Microlight category and it as registered as an Amateur Built Aeroplane. ZK-EZY2 (c/n CL04001) is a Cli-mate Cli-mate 100 and was first registered to the Paul Hopper/Rex Swenson Partnership of North Shore on 21/7/04. On 1/3/06 ownership transferred to Paul Hopper and he is very active in the aircraft around the Northern Microlight Club activities in the Auckland and Northland regions. ZK-EZY2 is photo'd above at the 2011 Black Sands flyin at Raglan, on 12/11/11.

Monday, 27 March 2017

Bell TH-1L Iroquois CS-HBV msn 6426 seen just after being unloaded from a truck early this afternoon. This helicopter served with the United States Navy until being wfu on 8-6-83. It then became N434RR / N450AH / and N540GH before taking up it's present registration. I wonder who it is destined for here ?

Friday, 24 March 2017

In a less than ideal day gray and misty day at Hamilton, Richard Currie captured these two aircraft for our blog - neither of them having appeared previously.

The Cessna 172M Skyhawk II ZK-DXP (c/n 17265333) was imported by Rex Aviation (NZ) Ltd for the Taumarunui Aero Club who took it over in September of 1975. It only lasted a year before being bent after which it was rebuilt by Dalhoff and King of Dunedin.

Some fifteen owners later it was taken up by Steve Hampton of Hamilton in May of 2011.

A recent addition to our register is this Diamond DA 42 ZK-SHB (c/n 42.354) which was registered to Air Hawkes Bay Ltd of Hastings on 07-03-2017.

This airframe along with two others (VH-FGO and VH-FNV) where trucked into Aeromotive at Hamilton Airport on 25-10-2016.

Bell 412 ZK-HRX msn 36008 ex JA6636 which was registered to Oceania Aviation on 7-3-17 flew for the first time on 22-3-17

Cessna 182T VH-NIH msn 18282081 built in 2008 arrived at Ardmore at 17.50 on 21-3-17 after having flown Lord Howe Island-Norfolk Island-Kerikeri earlier in the day. I understand it was on delivery for a local owner.